This invention relates to an art object, and more particularly to an art object having an image displayed on a surface of a substrate, such as stone, plaster, or a tree leaf, and a method for creating the art object by creating the image on a transfer sheet in the form of a computer printer transparency sheet, and transferring the image from the transparency sheet to the surface of the art object.
It was my desire to create an art object of strikingly unique appearance having an image created by a variety of arts including drawing, painting, photography, computer imagery, or a combination of these arts, permanently deposited on the surface of a wide range of naturally occurring and man made substrate materials including plaster, concrete, drywall, marble, stone, cork, leaves, Plexiglass(trademark), glass, fabric, leather, plastic, metal, wood, paper, and/or paper products, ceramics and painted surfaces.
It was also my desire to develop a method for conveniently creating such an art object in a manner that could be practiced by artists using equipment and materials commonly available in the consumer marketplace at reasonable cost. And it was my further desire to develop a method that could utilize computers and computer printers so that original photographs and works of art could be duplicated without destruction and transferred to a new substrate material, and be modified in appearance, in creating the unique art objects that I desired to produce. It was also my desire to develop a method by which an artist or a photo shop operator could quickly and inexpensively create a series of proofs, using different colors or artistic treatments, and allow a customer to preview the final art object prior to the step of permanently affixed to the substrate material.
One difficulty that had to be dealt with is that many of the substrate materials that I envisioned using, such as slabs of stone or plaster, leaves, drywall panels, concrete walls, pillars, doors, or windows, could not be passed through standard consumer computer printer equipment. Another difficulty was that the surfaces of these substrate materials were in many cases resistant to accepting an image of high resolution, or even an image of low resolution, for that matter.
Yet another difficulty was that I was envisioning an art object that might include several sequentially applied layers of different types of media, some of which were opaque, and some of which were relatively transparent and would allow features in the substrate, such as veining in marble, to show through. While it seemed possible to apply these layers sequentially xe2x80x9cfrom the bottom upxe2x80x9d on the substrate, a tremendous amount of pre-planning would be involved, and some form of registration system might need to be devised to keep various layers in proper alignment. Working from the bottom up directly on the surface of the substrate in sequential layers would also make it difficult to experiment with alternate colors and effects, and preclude the possibility of allowing a customer to choose between several proofs.
To overcome the difficulties addressed above, I envisioned my method generally including the steps of generating a source image on, or transferring a source image to, a carrier sheet, in the form of a computer printable transparency sheet, to make a carrier image on the transparency sheet, and then transferring the carrier image to a destination surface of one of the materials mentioned above to create the art object that I desired to create. I also contemplated that in creating the unique art object I envisioned, I might wish, in some instances, to modify the carrier image while it was on the carrier sheet, prior to transferring the carrier image to the surface of the substrate, and in yet other instances that I might wish to modify the carrier image after it was permanently transferred to the substrate surface.
As described below, my initial attempts at producing the type of art object that I envisioned by this process were unsuccessful, however. Success was achieved only after a lot of experimentation, and discovering that certain components of standard computer transparency printing needed to be significantly modified or replaced by alternative materials and processes.
Although the method that I envisioned is similar in some respects to known methods for affixing an image to a substrate through a series of steps, which typically involve, creating a source image, transferring the source image to a carrier in the form of a transfer sheet of paper or plastic to form a carrier image, and transferring the carrier image to a destination surface to form a destination image, none of these was entirely satisfactory in producing the art object that I envisioned. Simply stated, they did not produce the unique art object that I envisioned, and generally were unsuitable in terms of achieving my goal of producing my art object in a convenient manner with equipment and materials commonly available in today""s consumer marketplace at reasonable cost.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 470,899, issued to Robinson in 1899 discloses a Method for Decorating Wood and Other Surfaces, in which an original image created on a piece of paper is transferred to a receiving surface prepared with a previously applied coating of shellac or some other resinous or gummy material capable of being dissolved by a chemicalxe2x80x94such as wood alcohol. The original image is printed, painted, or otherwise applied to the sheet of paper. A transfer sheet is created by coating one side of a sheet of plain white paper with a coating of the same shellac or resinous or gummy material used to prepare the receiving surface.
The transfer of the original image in Robinson""s method is accomplished in two steps. In the first step, the sheet of paper upon which the original image is applied, is immersed in a bath of wood alcohol, and pressed into intimate contact with the transfer sheet, with the wood alcohol dissolving the image and the coating on the transfer sheet such that the image is transferred from the paper to the coated surface of the transfer sheet, and then removing the sheet of paper upon which the original image was applied in flakes or fragments. In the second step, the transfer sheet with the transferred design is immersed in the same solvent and pressed in intimate contact with the shellac coating on the receiving surface, and the transfer sheet removed in flakes and fragments to leave the image on the surface.
Robinson discloses that in some instances it is possible to dispense with the transfer sheet and apply the originalxe2x80x94saturated in solventxe2x80x94directly to the shellacked surface of the body to be decorated, or when the body to be decorated is a material such as celluloid which is softened by the solvent, that the step of shellacking the surface can be eliminated. Robinson further discloses that the solvents other than wood alcohol can be used in practicing his method, and that in some cases the solvent may be applied to the surface to be decorated before the transfer sheet is applied to it.
Although the method of Robinson was similar to the method that I envisioned, it was unsuitable for producing the art object I desired to produce for several reasons. Robinson""s method involved the use of materials that were not compatible with some of the types of original images that I wished to transfer, such as photographs and computer generated images, and in general, the process did not appear to be capable of producing the level of detail necessary for transferring photographs and originals having fine detail. Robinson discloses the use of his method for transferring pictures printed from wood-cuts in ordinary printing ink, ordinary lithographs printed in colors, water color designs painted by hand, and prints or impressions made from steel engravings, but makes no mention of photographs, and of course computer generated designs of extremely fine resolution were completely unknown in 1899 when the Robinson patent issued.
The solvent dissolvable coatingsxe2x80x94of a gummy resinous nature, such as shellacxe2x80x94would also be totally unsuitable for use on some of the substrates, such as leaves, that I wanted to use in creating the art objects that I envisioned, because they would destroy or undesirably alter the appearance or nature of the substrate. The Robinson method is also too complex and involves the use of volatile materials such as shellac, and the tedious process of removing the transfer sheet and/or original sheets in flakes or fragments.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,732 to Steelman, issued in 1988, discloses a Transfer Method for Applying Graphics to a Display Surface. Steelman forms a graphic by applying a special liquid mixture of a matrix resin, a binder resin, and a light altering agent to a relatively thick (0.125 mm) low-adhesion carrier web, using a conventional technique such as screen printing, spray painting, or knife coating. The graphic is solidified or cured on the low-adhesion carrier web. The solidified graphic is then wetted with a fluid to at least partially dissolve the binder matrix in the graphic, by applying the solvent to a display surface to which the graphic is to be attached, such as a metal plate or a retail store window, and pressing the graphics against the display surface. After a bond has developed between the display surface and the graphics which is stronger than the bond between the graphic and the low adhesion carrier web, the carrier web is peeled away, leaving the graphic attached to the display surface.
Steelman was unsuitable for producing the art object that I envisioned for several reasons. The liquid mixture, the carrier sheet, and the equipment required to generate the image on the carrier sheet would not be readily available to artists in the consumer marketplace. Generating an image with very fine detail, such a photograph or a computer generated image would require complex mixing and application of Steelman""s special liquid mixture, assuming arguendo that Steelman""s process were even capable of producing images having such fine detail. Steelman provides no disclosure that such fine detail can be achieved using his method. The carrier sheets of Steelman are also 25% thicker than the typical computer transparency sheets, and of low-adhesion to the graphic, which would create problems in applying the image using a computer printer, as I envisioned.
My initial attempts to create the art object that I envisioned centered around using standard, xe2x80x9coff-the-shelfxe2x80x9d computer ink-jet printers available in any consumer store for $300.00 or less, together with standard transparency sheets commonly available in office supply stores and in-jet ink cartridges designed and recommended by the printer manufacturers for use with these transparency sheets. I would print an image onto the transparency sheet, add enhancements of acrylic or oil-based paint, spray on a thin coating of a solvent, apply the wetted image to the surface of the substrate and press or rub the exposed side of the transparency sheet to cause the image on the wetted surface to transfer from the transparency sheet to the substrate, peel off the transparency sheet, and blot any residue left on the substrate from coatings on the transparency sheets.
As shown by U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,230 for an Ink Receptive Transparency Sheet, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,659 for a Method of Printing on a Transparency Sheet, ink-jet printers and pen plotters typically use a hydrophilic solvent-based (i.e. water based) inks. Transparency sheets for use with such ink-jet computer printers have a thickness of about 4 mils (0.004 in; 0.102 mm), and have a coating which is receptive to the hydrophilic solvent in the ink. The result of this combination is a sheet with high adhesion of the ink image to the transparency sheet, as contrasted to the low-adhesion coating of Steelman. There is also no need for the person creating the image to pre-treat the carrier sheet, as in Robinson, or to make special liquids as in Steelman. But my early attempts to utilize typical transparency sheets adapted for use in ink-jet printers for creating the art object that I envisioned were not satisfactory. The water based inks used in typical ink-jet printers became too runny to transfer a crisp image, even when using solvents such as denatured alcohol that did not contain water.
Results varied widely between different brands of transparencies and ink cartridges, and with the solvent used. I eventually determined that denatured alcohol seemed to be the best solvent, but the transferred image was not as clear as I needed it to be, no matter how careful I was in making the transfer. In time I determined that the basic problem seemed to be the ink-jet ink itself. For some manufacturers the black lines would stay crisp and clear with the colors bleeding unacceptably, and for other manufacturers the reverse was true.
I noticed, however, that when I used waterfast materials such as acrylic and oil-based paints, or waterfast and water resistant inks, which the transparency had not been designed to accept, the image did not seem to suffer from bleeding, as did the inks specifically designed for use in the computer printer with transparencies. The solution seemed to be to replace the inks normally used with ink-jet printers, on transparencies, with a more waterfast material.
In addition to being waterfast, I needed an ink that was also colorfast so that its color did not change or fade over time. This caused me to focus on pigmented inks.
I found that manufacturers did not supply ink-jet cartridges with waterfast ink for use in the small, inexpensive ink-jet printers that I desired to use, and for some types of ink-jet printers, the printer manufacturers specifically recommended using their pigmented inks only on waterproof media and in very expensive large format printers.
The only inks that I was able to find which appeared to be potentially suitable for use with my method were inks designed for use in large format commercial pen plotters and printers, typically selling for $10,000 to $30,000 dollars US. These machines were far too expensive to meet my goal of providing a method that could be practiced by individuals or photo shops at a reasonable cost. These machines and inks were designed to plot or print on surfaces such as paper or materials such as TYVEK(trademark), and not on transparency film of the type that I wanted to use.
There was also an additional problem to be solved in that the manufacturers of some brands of low cost ink-jet printers having micropiezo ink delivery systems specifically warned against using pigmented inks in their machines. Despite these admonitions, I purchased bulk quantities of the waterfast ink designed for use in large format printers on surfaces other than transparencies, and used it to fill empty ink-jet printer cartridges designed for use with hydrophillic solvent-based ink-jet inks.
After considerable experimentation, I developed the method described herein for creating the art object that I envisioned by applying waterfast inks developed for large format printers on surfaces other than transparency film, and other commercially available water resistant materials, to transparency sheets of the type typically used in ink-jet printers designed for use with water based inks, and then using a non-water based solvent, such as denatured alcohol, to soften the image for transfer to the surface of a substrate. The transferred image is of very high resolution and suitable for use with images including photographic prints or computer generated images. The cost of the equipment and supplies required is very reasonable.
My method also allows me to quickly and inexpensively create an image on a transparency sheet, and then to modify that image after it is created on the transparency sheet with additional layers of water resistant or non-water resistant materials applied to the image on the transparency, to create special effects, or to help keep coloration on the surface of a substrate such as travertine marble from being visible through the image after it is transferred the substrate. The resultant image is also joined to the substrate very tightly, and can be further modified by applying tints, other materials to the image on the substrate for enhancing or adding additional artistic effects.
Because my method allows images to be so quickly and inexpensively printed and modified on the transparency sheet, a person performing my method can prepare several alternate images on separate transparency sheets and compare the final appearance of the images on a given display surface of a substrate by overlaying the separate transparency sheets on the display surface prior to actually transferring the image from a selected transparency sheet to the display surface. This provides significant advantage over other methods of affixing an image to a substrate working xe2x80x9cfrom the bottom upxe2x80x9d with layers of materials applied sequentially to the substrate. The image can be modified considerably before actual affixation to the substrate, by allowing the finished product to be previewed, and further modified if desired, prior to actually affixing the image to the substrate. An artist or photo shop performing my method can thus quickly and inexpensively generate a series of xe2x80x9cproofsxe2x80x9d having different images which can be viewed overlying the substrate by a client or customer, prior to affixing the image to the substrate, thereby allowing a means for the client or customer to select the image that they prefer for the finished product.
My method allows high definition printing of images including photographic prints and computer images onto a variety of natural and man made substrates to create unique art objects and articles of manufacture that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to create. My process can even be utilized to transfer high definition images to such unlikely materials as tree leaves, making it possible to create highly unique art objects, and utilitarian objects such as place marker xe2x80x9cleavesxe2x80x9d at a dinner table.